Franz Kafka’s Selected Stories and Novels: Portraits of Anxiety, Trauma, and Hope

Class Description

Franz Kafka, who was born in Prague in 1883 and lived there with his parents and sisters until his death in 1924, has a reputation as a writer of highly unusual and visionary stories and novels. In this course, we will begin by reading six or seven of his short stories. We will then discuss Kafka’s story of physical transformation and familial and economic pressure, The Metamorphosis, and later, we will discuss two of his famous novels, The Trial and Amerika.

Our exploration of Kafka's major themes includes the ways in which he portrays economic and emotional pressures toward conformity in middle-class families in several stories; and the costs of choosing great pride and harmful exhibitionism in The Hunger Artist. In later classes, we will discover the confused and fearful state of mind of a man accused and tried for a nameless crime in The Trial. In our last two classes, we will consider character developments, including some comic chapters, in Amerika, a novel Kafka set in New York City in the 1910s.

Joseph Heininger is a Professor of English at Dominican University. His interests include modern poetry and translation, classic and contemporary fiction, and Irish poetry, novels, and stories. He has published articles on Seamus Heaney, Dennis O'Driscoll, and James Joyce, and he is working on a study of Seamus Heaney and Translation.

All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.

What to Expect

Format: Virtual

Class Capacity: 24

Class Style: Mostly discussion; participation-based

Materials List

Required

• Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories. Schocken, 1995. ISBN: 9780805210552
• Franz Kafka, The Trial. Schocken, 1999. ISBN: 9780805209990
• Franz Kafka, Amerika. New Directions, 2004. ISBN: 9780811215695

First Reading

• Please read "The Country Doctor" and "A Report to an Academy" in Kafka's Complete Stories for the first class meeting.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Short stories
2. The Metamorphosis
3. The Trial
4. The Trial
5. Amerika
6. Amerika

Cost and Registration

6 Sessions, $245 ($220.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($245), Community Supported ($225), and Sponsor ($265). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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